Expatriate Experience in Malaysia

Many studies have been conducted by researchers either academia or practitioner to understand factors contributing to expatriate effectiveness in the international assignments. The present study examines the relationship between individual differences (i.e. cultural intelligence and personality) and expatriate effectiveness (i.e. cross-cultural adjustment and job performance) using a sample of 332 expatriates working in Malaysia. The findings of the study revealed that motivational and behavioral dimensions of cultural intelligence and personality factors of agreeableness, openness to experience and conscientiousness positively related to cross-cultural adjustment and job performance. It is also found that cross-cultural adjustment mediates the relationship between individual differences and job performance, implying that cultural intelligence and personality explains the variance in job performance indirectly, mediated through cross-cultural adjustment. The findings of this study also have practical implications to the expatriating firms in the area of selection, training and development of candidate for international assignments.